Within Preposition
by DeadlyDevotion
Summary: Kurogane and Fay are set together in search for the lost Princess of Clow. Her killer will only lead to lies and her hideaway only to upset. Syaoran and Sakura continue to run for their salvation while a story of seeking the other half unfolds [SS KF]
1. A Matter of Opinion

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****CHAPTER ONE  
**_A Matter of Opinion  
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"You must come" she had insisted for above the millionth time that morning. Though, as was to all of her former requests, his countenance had remained most unchanged as he answered in the negative. For awhile since I had become Keeper to the Princess I had noticed that the rumpled boy showed little if no emotion to her most sentimental calls. He seemed almost always indifferent to her where as she was always the most affixed with everything his presence revealed to her fancy. Maybe it was to this, and my softness toward my new charge, that I then decided on nudging the silent child gently and even smiled. There was a look my way from the touch but life seemed to pass in and out of his eyes without a care to catch it for his own. I should have much rather gone away with the Princess to see her surprise quite without the person it was intended for, except the red-headed girl would have none of it. Her last entreaty was made the most heartfelt of all her former words but, on still receiving an almost immobile headshake in return, she took up his dirty hand with a pout and pulled him right up from the floor.

You must understand that my Princess was very young and so she didn't know the hands she touched or the person she smiled to was one of the most vile creatures this earth has yet seen. Quite a sight to top it, too! One of the strangest things I've seen--dirty, but lean. Blank face, but one which was so much overflowing with intellectual understanding that it gave one a horror to look it straight on--all but the Princess, to be sure. She made for herself a playmate right from the start, against the rage from her brother and the mutual abhorrence demonstrated by her people. I must add that although I said she was very much oblivious at the time she took that dirty hand, she still laced her fingers with his on equal ground--held it with more strength, I dare say--after she was made aware of what he was and why he was so far gone from you and I--"

"Don't group us" snapped the visitor

"Oh hush!" the narrator replied, but with a humor that displeased the other "Or I'll tell you no more than this"

"Get on then" he said in a growl after a moment.

"Well, on that day her surprise turned out to be nothing but what we were doing to discover it's meaning. Walking. After a long while we stopped at the edge of the village and she pulled her dirty companion to a stop and pointed to where we had come" Fay shook his blonde hair away from his blue eyes with a smile "That creature stared blankly and, I admit, I did the very same for awhile too because it was only the Princess who could see things for what they really were in their greatest form"

"And what consequence does that characteristic you praise have to my wish?" the visitor said irritably

"No consequence whatsoever should you keep bearing your teeth at me, because you won't hear the end of it. The existence of the tale and it's purpose will be no more to you than what the children had been before this point in time" Fay smiled again "Am I correct?"

This time the visitor, Kurogane, kept his mouth closed. Though from the lowering of his brow and the clenching of his jaw it looked as if he was quite against his own decision to remain silent to the inquiry. It satisfied Fay in both manners and while he smiled over the sight he took a moment to pour another drink for his visitor. The offering was taken without a word or a glance.

"Footprints" Fay said after taking a drink of his own brandy

"I still see no consequence…" trailed Kurogane crossly

"As I say--you do not. Nor did I. She only did and so she pointed out our perfect little steps, particularly that strange creature's own, to the boy and said: "See there! You have history as much as me or Fay-san! Each step you take is a step of person and character!"---Here she took both his hands and drew him up to her face, she was very affectionate to the unruly beast-- "Don't let anyone tell you that you don't exist! Don't listen to those silly fools who think it funny to say you have no name or life! I am holding hands with you and walking in history with you so why are you so very different from me?! Just because your parents haven't a history doesn't mean you should suffer under the same fate!"---I didn't believe it but she kissed him on the cheek and blushed hotly over it for a moments time before asking if he agreed.

As if a body was switched in time or a soul was born from dust, a vibrant light came over the creature's face and he took on the appearance of one so close to a human it was remarkable. Before turning Keeper over the Princess of Clow I heard from a source that she had power to bring life from the voiceless. Well! I was more ready to believe that she had power to give life where there was none to be found after I saw the creature smile!"

"...I still lack to find consequence in your tale" returned Kurogane, out of humor

"You believe in no miracles? Nothing wonderful?"

"Wonderful, but under a different power" he replied

"By which?"

"That which makes you tell me what I desire without going on for above an hour! You talk far too much for a sensible man to bear"

"Believe it or reject it--you aren't the first to say such a thing!" he laughed

"I readily believe it" he said rudely against the laughter "and have faith that I won't be the last to communicate it before your mortal life ends"

"Chilling" Fay resumed his smile and drink "Very well Kuro! I will give that information you seek from me, though I should be depressed after you are gone"

"And I shall be quite the opposite"

"My feeling towards it increases with your retorts---Strange"

"Only so much as the person who feels it so" he growled "Now on with your damned story"

"Yes, yes…Well, after that it is safe enough to say that the boy was almost 'child' in every way of appearance. There was still that stone-coldness of presence that aided in my persistence from attachment or intimacy with him, past that of which suited my Princess' happiness at the time. He laughed and smiled, talked with passion, and acted with desires that any human should own. Though those yearnings of the soul seemed to me centered always on that of his playmate. Sakura-chan, in her own dizzy of undying affections for the boy, took no notice for it but I, who watched them always, caught on to it very nearly from the instant it began. Whatever may have been his goals in life formed in a strange way which connected deeply with the wellbeing and life of Sakura-chan.

Should the girl try to partake in the dangerous conduct that all overly-energetic girls of her age long for, he would be at her side in order to make sure she was safe in doing what fit her desire. As they grew he became less protective and more trusting but it was far worse than having obedience at the beginning and obsession in the course of time. Such a trust was to be understood by me as there was a deeper significance that chained the young lover's souls into one. Effortless faith is only something to have with yourself, Kuro-sama. Without knowledge you trust yourself…inevitably, you do so without exertion or want. Without quite caring or ever actually believing in the possibility of any determining measure of wrong in actions and ideals, one trusts oneself and so was the case for the two children"

Fay placed his glass down to refill with drink, and so Kurogane saw it fit to finally place his empty glass beside the first. Unbeknownst to his guest, the word trust lay bitterly against Fay's tongue and turned his countenance grim for a second as he examined his brandy.

"Where he is, she is" he said at last

Kurogane rose and slammed his empty glass on the table between them with force "That was all I wished to know your opinion on"

And then he was gone, leaving Fay with only a faint smile in remembrance of such enjoyment.

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**TSUBASA:RC does not belong to me.**


	2. Within Preposition

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****CHAPTER TWO  
**_Within Preposition  
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Since the Princess' disappearance he kept house in her kingdom without desire. There was no hope in her return, as it was, and quite aside from the impossible reversing it's course into the fantastical, Sakura should have been far from any need of his protection and care in a year that would have set her at sixteen years. Though because of his former relations with the Princess and her brother, he was treated with every due of respect and civility as if he had still held such a position, and not that of a odd healer.

Not many in the still undeveloped, and sometimes primitive, country relied on his 'tricks' and 'medicine' to cure them and so Fay found his days spent in near solitude for many weeks after Kurogane's departure. His brother happened in around the end of the spring month to question on Sakura, but Fay could give his blood mirror no more than a shoulder shrug of hopelessness that took toll on all the muscles of each body in Clow.

"She couldn't have gone on much past the country border, brother" His twin said in condolence "Have faith and surely she will be in presence with time"

Fay tried to stifle his laughter, especially at the good-natured hand laid to his arm, but it was in vain and he burst into a fit. It was the kind of merriment that one indulges in when nothing else seems sane, and only done because the mind hasn't an idea to what else is to be expected under such strain. His twin saw past the enjoyment well enough though, and offered the same form of last-resort smile in return.

"It's more likely I should be admitted back to our kingdom!" he roared at last with delight

"Don't say that!" his twin said hurriedly

"Oh, what weight is it here?!" Fay persisted "No one cares that I should be an outcast! Who should care that their paradise, comfort, and life only serve as my purgatory and agony?!"

"Trade with me!" his brother implored with passion in his eyes. He took up Fay's hand and pressed it tightly "I will reside here and you to our home and--"

"Here or there!" Fay laughed, almost devilishly "There or here! What matter of difference is it should we not be allowed to partake in such prepositions together?!"

"You're talking nonsense" his brother said softly

"Come Yuui!"

"Come Fay!" he rejoined with halfhearted tease

At once the brothers began to laugh in that desperate manner the mind yearns for in it's moral abandonment. Under emotional stress the two Prince's cried out, and drank, and laughed until far gone was the sun that the moon was nearly over the quaint house.

"She will be seen by your eyes once more" he insisted in the course of his stumbling for horse "Take care brother and until we are in one preposition again I bid you happiness!"

"You can bid it all you like!" the latter rejoined in slur "but no good will it be unless partial truth lights a path to it!"

"Still nonsense!"

"Still yet ignorance and blind faith, you unhappy Prince!" he replied as they flung themselves at one another "Make certain that you kill no one on the course of your ride!"

"That is said in bad taste, brother--"

"Such a taste that suits my present existence quite handsomely too!"

Any trace of outward displeasure was immediately vanquished in the warm embrace, only the more passionate when they removed the horse whom was caught in the middle of their drunken exchanges of farewell. Fay had always enjoyed drink, frivolity that laid entirely in the hands of his foster father, yet he never got so far in his pleasure to understand how one is to keep themselves under control of the intoxication. His solitude and his brother's visit only intensified his love for the small merriment found in the pastime and so, at the conclusion of such a bittersweet exchange, Fay fell down onto the steps of his door and didn't move until he was provoked.

His agitator was himself very much aggravated to find the person sprawled out and face-buried into the sand on the dawn of the next morning. Kurogane was one known to have little if no patience when something was in need of immediate attention, and so he wasted not a second's time in kicking the man in the ribcage to persuade consciousness into the lifeless form.

"Cruel!" the body cried in merriment that was wrongly placed in such a state of affairs "Have not you heard that one is not to kick a man when he is down?!"

"But to kick a man who is a fool is necessary for the sake of both men" came the ready reply "Now up! I need a word"

"If you should like one with me, you should have to pay for it with an exchange of yours!" Fay replied once recognizing his harasser "Come and don't pout over it, Kuro-sama!"

"You are drunk" he said coolly, kicking open the door. The great man stepped right over Fay and let himself in without reservation. The notion pleased his light head well enough and so Fay lifted himself up with the help of the door frame and staggered in after Kurogane.

"For the sake that I deal with the sane, I hope you weren't at drink alone"

Fay saw Kurogane was glancing over all the empty bottles littered about his floor but, rather than ashamed or under any inclination to hide the truth of his brother's secret visitation, Fay was doubly amused and grinned "You're worried? How kind!"

"I worry that I speak with one who has no wits!" he hissed in ill humor

"Hiding feelings" Fay teased "never does good"

"I haven't come to talk or dispute the rational behind humankind--I've come to inquire"

Fay sunk into an arm chair with laughter "You must pay the toll, as I say!"

"What? The word?" he said impatiently "What word? What is it? Have on with it so I can be one my way"

"I should like…" Fay sat up but at once fell back into the chair with the weight of his hangover "…should like…you--"

Kurogane watched the man fall into slumber with a menacing expression, such a look that did neither good nor wrong to his chiseled features. As nobility there was an air of superiority and knowledge of right in the taunts lines, but intermixed with the life of a warrior there set a face so hard and come to superciliousness that it created it's own shadows of darkness apart from those of average likeness. More displeased was Kurogane above annoyed at this hindrance that he saw it fit only to throw a blanket over the sleeping man, in the stead of scrutinizing the probability of the man's remaining life, before storming out of the little house and walking with deep steps into the sandy country.

For the several weeks that had past between his last meeting with the Princess' former Keeper, he had made no advance in discovering the lost heir of Clow. Demanding admittance into the castle dungeon to see the boy Fay had spoken of had only served to create as much good for his task as was staring at the feet of the burly guards who refused to let him by without direct permission from the king. Such was the very same king who denied an audience with him so Kurogane may ask for the rightful request, and so left Kurogane in a road with no paths. Should the Keeper still share a relation with the king Kurogane had hoped to use that to his advantage but drunken foolery wasn't to be tolerated in his mission.

Delays were something to avoid as well but Kurogane couldn't see a way around it and made circles of the kingdom until the gloom finally settled from his face with the falling sun.

"You'll tire yourself" A voice said quaintly "You've been walking around all day, haven't you? Here, come join me for some dinner"

Kurogane looked off to his side to see a man with glasses and a smile which beheld a pleasant match to his kind offering. Having been a fighter the notion of accepting meals from citizens wasn't an oddity so, with a wordless grace of gratitude, Kurogane entered the tiny house. On approaching the table he saw two places were already set but didn't think it notable to comment on the man's confidence that he should receive a guest in Kurogane.

"You are a visitor to our little country"

"I am"

"And what brings a warrior of the East to our South?"

Kurogane glanced at the emblem of his kingdom on his arm before returning to the smiling man at his opposite "I'm in a search"

"….for the Princess"

"For the Princess" he confirmed

"Ah! I heard that there was a warrior about, wishing for traces and hoping for entrance into the dungeon--"

"If it has all been said, why hasn't it been granted?" It was said angrily, but more so to himself as he stabbed his cold meat with a fork.

"I am Fujitaka" the man said kindly

"Kurogane"

He smiled "You are looking for the Princess in the dungeon?"

"I'm looking for a boy there who might be the only one who knows what happened to her" he corrected

"He doesn't know"

The confidence and quickness that related the words startled Kurogane from his meal enough to look upon his companion instead "How's that?"

"If he did then he shouldn't be in there in the first place!" the man replied lightly, but with a cheerlessness that was horribly contrasted to any of his other words

"You know him?"

"I'm his father"

"Why lie? The boy has no upbringing, no name"

"He has my name along with the one I gave him" After a moment Fujitaka smiled once more "Should you ask him I have no doubt he will help you find her--but not in a way that he knows where to seek. He will do all he can to find her but only in a blind affection that takes control of all who share a deep intimacy"

"I was told that if I found one, I should find the other" he said with sudden impatience

"And so you shall!" he replied with good humor "But not in a way you imagine. Syaoran-kun knows no more of where the Princess is then that lifeless animal on your plate. Will you see one with the other? Of course, not even the greatest power can deny their bound hearts. Hindrance shall play maker until time and freedom play it's role, though"

The conversation left such a bad taste in his mouth that his own appetite was forgotten. After finding vexation in the misguided words of the former Keeper enough to diminish any more desire he had in calling on the man, a week was spent in vain to seek audience with the ruler, and another week soon after. Kurogane had just about exercised all his power over the tiring situation when, from the shifting sands of the blazing desert, came a neatly carved purple carriage. As it wove it's path in and out of the streets a wave of voices and awe followed course. The sight was only to be rewarded with a scowl from him, growing deeper and more pronounced against his self-made shadows when a cheerful girl of sixteen was handed down from the cart.

"What heat!" she exclaimed with good cheer, using a delicate hand to fan herself "Not even our summers are so intense! If I had known that temperatures were so high I should have gone ahead and made out all those adorable gowns for Sakura-chan!"

"No good doing such useless foolishness now" grumbled Kurogane

"With that attitude and sad excuse for a happy welcome I would be worried if you had said the opposite" Tomoyo said with a light smile "Come, Kurogane! We have things to discuss!"

"I said I don't need you here!" he persisted, even as the servants carried her baggage into his house against his attempt to block the movement "Stop with this!" he shouted hotly "Stop and go home already!"

"Brood all you want inside while I tell you where I have been!"

With a gloomy countenance Kurogane followed after the woman he served, but on seeing herself being trailed after she stopped and held out her palm to bring his stride to a direct halt that nearly toppled his large structure.

"Help our guest with his things first!" The woman's grin concerned him enough, for her humor was his torture "As one who shares my cause I thought it best to receive him into our cause directly!"

Annoyance rapidly leveled into anger when he turned his shoulder and spotted Fay jumping out from the carriage with a grin and the short, merry call of "We should be the happiest partners!"

"…damnit" he could only mutter to the many wrongs the situation presented.

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**TSUBASA:RC does not belong to me.**


	3. The Killer

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****CHAPTER THREE  
**_The Killer  
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Time had long ago overthrown his boyish face into the pits of cold emptiness. Amber eyes which reflected effortless intellect were now dimmed into cool stone of brown rubble. His attention could only be fixed onto the wall his opposite, and his body only mobile within the small shift of allowance between the chains which stapled him to his prison. His lean arms, once muscular in their own right, were slowly deteriorating against the shackles that hung his arms above his head. Dirty black turtle neck and tattered beige pants were smeared with blood of the past that served as the only true reminder of his reason for imprisonment.

Fay peeked through the bars and regarded the sight of the boy he had once known. It seemed to him remarkable that such a light, which had been given to him through the smile of the Princess, was now so far gone in the reality of his being. Stray rays of sunbeam created bars of bluish silver that severed the boy into grotesque pieces of flesh and shredded cloth. Dirt rose and fell within the rays of sparse light and it was with absent attention he saw it gather against the boy in the likeness of a magnet.

"It's him" Fay assented long after Kurogane's inquiry "Much transformed….or shall I say reverted? He looks quite in the way he did before the Princess exchanged hearts with him!"

"I could care less for tied hearts and vanquished affections" Kurogane said moodily "Open the door so we can be done with this"

"Impatience!" Fay said with a light smile "You've been more eager to get away from me than to work as my opposite since we started onto here. Now come, Kuro-sama. Tomoyo-chan was kind enough to help you in the manner of permission to this dungeon and companionship with me. If we work together we will make this horrible mission that much more enjoyable"

"For whom?" he questioned "And what do you mean by that Kuro-sama name?"

"I mean to endear you with a nickname"

"I'm far from endeared"

"Is that right? I'll just have to try another until you feel so, Kuro-chan"

"There will be no nicknames" he said crossly

"How can their be friendship without personal touches?"

"How can their be a friendship when one isn't to be had?" he challenged

"So cross!"

Fay proceeded in turning the key obtained from the guards who had since taken pains to forbid any entrance under the king's commands. Neither of the brute-like protectors had been willing to enter with the two into the prisoner's abode, and so it was them two alone now that opened the door and walked soundly to the back wall where the young boy was hung.

"He sleeps" Fay noticed

"He can sleep for all eternity soon enough" Kurogane walked past Fay and shook the boy violently "Come and wake, kid!"

Animation claimed the altered face of Syaoran in a way that was almost too horrid to watch. Life itself seemed to seep into the bloodless skin as his body stirred. His pupils dilated with attention, but there wasn't but a trace of surprise at seeing either of them. As it was, the way his empty features examined the two men, he seemed expectant of their presence. His patient stare was only in the way of angering Kurogane who shouted something Fay could not catch.

Syaoran had, though, and replied levelly "I shall answer what I own the truth, of course"

"Who's blood is spilt on your clothes?"

"One who has hurt the Princess"

Kurogane straightened "Where is the Princess?"

"If I knew I would gladly be beside her and the question would be without value to either of us"

Fay caught the way Kurogane's jaw tightened to such bold words and so took it upon himself to continue "You are much changed"

The almost visible traces of what one should call a smile hinted at the dark recesses of his mouth "Fay-san"

"It's been such awhile!"

Syaoran's eyes shifted between the two men "You are seeking after her"

"The whole kingdom is!" Fay said with emotion "Should you be surprised? Someone who was close and intimate with such a girl?"

"No but, to be sure, I'm…why here?" he said at once "What am I to give you when I've played prisoner these three years past?"

"Your bond is what we wish to divulge in"

"You wish to manipulate?" Syaoran said with low misery "Try to tear apart and rip from me the only thing that keeps me to this world for the next day and the day after?"

"If it's that which leads to the Princess then it is exactly what we seek" Kurogane said with fervor

"Unless you tear my heart from my chest I will never be willing to part with it" Syaoran said with coldness "And until I leave this prison I am no more help to you then the floor beneath your feet. Immobile and only placement instead of movement" Above the decrepit body swung his arms, motionlessly, in metal shackles and Fay saw blood seeped past the thin wrists.

"The blood is yours alone?" Fay said without conscious effort

"The binds are tight and movement is limited but it doesn't stand as the only cause"

Kurogane seemed offended by this exchange "Do not accusations of the disappearance of the Princess bring you here?"

"The very same"

"And so speak! What know you of her?"

"That she is not here" he said with a certain tightness of his jaw

"Where is she?"

"Not here, presently" he persisted in answer

Kurogane was noticeably weary and hinted at other force to be used in making the child speak, but nothing was to be granted as the guards currently returned and bid them departure as the allotted time was quite past it's original agreement. Wordlessly Fay happened a glance in the boy's direction and the sight stuck him as particularly offensive. The lightless wonder of a face which had been selfishly given so much warmth from Sakura's own goodness was most insulting, especially to one who had cherished the spirit and soul of the girl who made it possible.

"You should be ashamed" Fay said as him and partner retreated "You abuse the Princess poorly in the dying of heart. You, who should above all be the one most animate to find her, only give blank answers to those who should at all ends share your cause and happiness in her presence"

The boy hung his head and whatever may have been the emotion that brought such concealment about was at once shielded by dirty brown bangs. Such a horrid exchange was disappointing and neither man found it fit to speak on the return to the patiently expectant Tomoyo. The outcome was seen enough in the faces of him and his partner and so Fay spoke on in relation to the meeting with careless intention, as it was quite without thinking it lay in any consequence to finding their lost Princess.

"This is not Syaoran-kun" she said at once with a smile

Kurogane visibly fumed at the declaration "How can you come to say this?! You are tiresome to send me to a damned hellhole when the chosen person I'm forced to speak with isn't the one I should need to have spoken!"

"Silly creature" Tomoyo resumed without preface "Especially you Fay-san! Do you not see that those words do not belong to our friend?"

He dared to venture the boy had never been an intimate acquaintance of his but instead replied with a wayward grin "To be sure, he has quite reverted to his old self"

"Nonsense!" Tomoyo's smile brightened with excitement "He should not be so unloving that he would dismiss Sakura-chan--no one on earth can be who has spent but a second with her!"

"Your own faithful affections blind you to actuality" said Kurogane with a leer

"You, who have been unlucky in the way of never knowing her, are not guided with truth of her ability of heart like I am! Only those who shared a smile to her could readily agree so I dismiss your silly attempts to vex" Before Kurogane could again protest Tomoyo rose from her seat and motioned to her driver "Now enough of this! We are to see this impostor together on the morrow. I'm off to the castle to seek permission once again from the king and visit my brother. I shall be back in time to enjoy the dinner you come up with for my pleasure!"

"Dinner?!" he roared only to leap to his feet and exclaim with more wrath "Had you come with us from the first then we should be on fine and closer yet to your Princess!"

"Forgive me" she laughed with infectious delight that caught Fay's fancy "I only wished to be alongside your idea of needing no assistance. Rest assured all requests of such nonsense will be utterly ignored in the future!" Fay and her both laughed with more humor in Kurogane's expression alone "No, no don't pout!" she said as she headed outward "Such a mood will surely ruin my dinner! It's gotten colder outside, has it not?" she commented to her driver before shutting the door.

Dinner was an abhorrence at it's finest. Kurogane was neither cook nor one willing enough to allow Fay the task. As the case turned out, he would have done much better to allow the man his hand at cooking as Fay played more hindrance in doing nothing than actually participating. More time was spent in wishing silence from the continuous smooth voice and attempting to toss the energetic man from his kitchen than was given to the actual preparation of food. Time played a greater nuisance as Tomoyo's brother had suddenly left the country during the night, bringing on her return quickly. Tomoyo wasn't in a mind to care over her supper being unfit and took to talking with Fay readily in the place of enjoying the meal. So much did the two speak that Kurogane found it quite unbearable, especially in the manner which they were aptly able to turn conversation on to him in the most unflattering light, and so, beside himself, he walked out into the night.

The vague call issued on the topic of temperature was correct and Kurogane felt a chill against the desert breeze. Clow wasn't an area known to cool climates and so the idea that he needed to wrap his cloak about his shoulders struck his attention. More disturbing yet was upon lifting his head there were inflated clouds of gray and white looming. Such a sight was only known in his own region on the account of snow and so, in seeing the clouds hovering in line with a desert, he couldn't deny being perplexed on it's significance.

"Very strange" a familiar voice called

"Strange and unwelcome" Kurogane replied to Fujitaka "I planned only for heat"

"As did the rest of the country, I assure you!" The man was engulfed so completely in a heavy cloth that one passing may wonder that it was winter "Never in my years have I felt so cold in the desert" On receiving no answer from the other he continued with that gentle tone "Have you visited my son?"

"I wouldn't know" Vaguely Kurogane recalled the events to the man and when he was finished he owed surprise to the sudden paleness that had overcome the man.

"But they are of one likeness?" he said hurriedly

"I'm not to judge" Kurogane answered grimly "but that Keeper seems to agree the boy was what he had been"

"Nadeshiko! Love! You must come at once!" Kurogane caught on to the dainty sounding footsteps of a woman rumbling across the house, but on her opening the door to approach she quite fell face first into an embarrassing tumble.

"Oh! I am clumsy" she said with good cheer "Very sorry!" she said as Fujitaka took her in his arms "In a rush but--now what is this about? You know I'm cooking dinner!"

"Which stands to reason why I should want to stop it!" he laughed

"Hush, please!" she implored "I am better than eggs shells as ingredients now. But darling, what is it? I haven't heard you shout with such eagerness since that tomb was found"

"Something _has_ been found!"

"An artifact?" she mused with an almost girlish grin

"Your son"

Kurogane imagined his face to be nothing short of identical likeness to the shock which possessed that of the beautiful woman.

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**TSUBASA:RC does not belong to me.**


End file.
